Research leads to new workshops targeted at Kiwi SMEs

78%
of Kiwi business owners want more access to experts within a
specific area of business. The most important factors
considered when assessing training options are value for
money and minimising time away from their business. That’s
the result of recent research conducted by BNZ and The
Icehouse which has led to the development of a range of
short, topic-specific workshops, designed to help Kiwi SMEs
grow and ultimately get New Zealand GDP back into the top
half of the OECD.

The workshops are available from April,
starting in Auckland and Christchurch and then rolling out
across 11 regions in New Zealand.

SMEs represent a
massive part of the New Zealand economy - 97% of all
enterprises, 40% of the economy’s total output on a
value-added basis and 31% of all employees.

Anthony Healy,
BNZ director Partners, says making business education
accessible to the largest segment of the New Zealand’s
business sector- SMEs - is critical to improve the overall
performance of New Zealand’s economy.

“We identified
that we must provide a way for business owners to access the
skills they need to grow their business without taking them
away from the day-to-day running of the business.”

“We
have developed the training to be short, accessible and
flexible so business owners can raise their capability while
still running their business.”

Andy Hamilton, CEO of The
Icehouse says the new workshops were designed to cater
specifically for the operational needs of SMEs.

“The
short, topic specific workshops will be held nationwide with
a focus on applying the knowledge taught in the workshops
directly to their business. The workshops cover a number of
topics that business owners have told us they are challenged
by including finance, HR, sales and marketing to governance,
leadership and many more.”

“In response to the
research we are offering the workshops in three formats to
offer business owners access to the information in the way
best suited to them and their business – 90-minute virtual
webinars called ‘Virtual ICE Cubes’, two and half-hour
workshops called ‘ICE Cubes’ and two-day workshops
called ‘ICE Blocks’.”

“Most of our existing
programmes are longer-term engagements. These new, short
workshops are a great addition to the current offering and
we think the choice of options will enable us to work with
thousands more business owners and senior managers across
the country.”

Mr Hamilton believes that these workshops
will help The Icehouse achieve its goal of 1,000 businesses
of international quality by 2020 as well as driving The
Icehouse towards its other long-term goals of enabling
25,000 new jobs in NZ and $20b of incremental revenue growth
from Kiwi businesses.

“We’ve got a long way to go but
these workshops are going to help us get there and most
importantly will be a real value add for Kiwi business
owners as they look to grow their businesses”.

The
Icehouse and BNZ have a long-standing partnership which is
driven by the shared vision of lifting New Zealand’s
economic performance through growing the business
performance of New Zealand
SMEs.

About
The Icehouse:The Icehouse is where kiwi
businesses grow. We are focused on supporting owner-managers
and entrepreneurs who will shape the future of New
Zealand’s economy. Through our nationwide events,
workshops and programmes we give startups and SMEs access to
the expertise, networks and funding they need to achieve
their growth aspirations and become Businesses of
International Quality (BIQ™).

We are committed to
changing the entrepreneurial landscape in New Zealand to
create an environment that inspires, supports and celebrates
business growth. Our goal is to lift the international
competitiveness of the NZ SME sector leading to a material
impact on the economic performance of New Zealand over the
long term.

Since 2001 we have worked with over 4,500
ambitious owner-managers – from startups to small
owner-managed businesses to multi-million dollar companies.
76% of the SMEs we work with achieve business growth. The
startups we've worked with have collectively created over
900 jobs and raised more than $117m in funding.

The
Icehouse is owned by a not-for-profit trust and is backed by
the financial support and expertise of the University of
Auckland Business School, BNZ, NZTE, Telecom, Gen-I, HP,
KPMG, JBWere, and AJ Park.

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